Trump wants Russia to hack the US government

Late last week, thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee were released by WikiLeaks, the contents of which have caused plenty of controversy at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week. The FBI is investigating and Russia is believed to be a prime suspect in the hack that led to these emails getting leaked. Naturally, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has had plenty to say about the hack and some of the messages themselves. But what he said today is yet another level of crazy from an already audacious candidate.

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said today, reports The New York Times. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press." By "find," it's pretty clear Trump was advocating for another hack to uncover more emails, specifically those from Hillary Clinton's private email server when she was Secretary of State. Later in the news conference, Trump was asked to clarify his comments by a female reporter. He deferred, saying that "that's up to the president" before telling the reporter to "be quiet" and "let the president talk to them."

Trump had previously made comments that cast doubt on Russia's role in the email hack, saying he thinks that it's a deflection tactic by the Democrats. And it wouldn't be surprising if he later says his comments weren't meant to be taken seriously -- he's done it before. Regardless of what he meant, he basically asked another nation to try and hack us, something that isn't exactly presidential.

His confusing remarks continued as he reportedly refused to call on Russian president Vladimir Putin to not meddle in the US election process. "I'm not going to tell Putin what to do," Trump said. "Why should I tell Putin what to do?" He then went on to say that if Russia is indeed behind the hack, it just shows how little respect foreign countries have for the US right now.

So, in summation, Trump has said that Russia is likely not responsible for the hack, claimed Democrats are using Russia to divert attention from the email hack, asked for Russia to try and hack us again and then said that if Russia was behind it, it's because they don't respect the country's leadership. It's a typically head-spinning string of positions, but given Trump's professed admiration for Putin, we don't expect to see him call out the country for its alleged role in the DNC email hack.